We hope everyone is having a great summer. As we race towards the July 4th holiday weekend, we remained focused on kicking off the week by sharing three top stories we found interesting, relevant and of value to businesses today. Check them out below.

How NYC is Shaping Into a Major Hub for Virtual RealityVirtual reality continues to be all the rage with numerous companies entering the ecosystem weekly. Adoption in sectors such as media, entertainment, design and education continue to push the technology into the mainstream. To date, we have seen a large convergence of VR companies popping up in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and one stealth company in South Florida. So it should come as no surprise why NYC companies are not only getting into the mix but beginning to dominate the market. This is a great article to learn which industries in New York are ripe for VR disruption.

Who owns the news consumer: Social media platforms or publishers?This is a great question considering there is millions of dollars at stake. The relationship between news organizations and platform companies have become far closer far more quickly than anyone predicted. This intriguing question prompted the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School to conduct a study looking at how newsrooms are adapting to the rising influence of technology companies. Take a read to see all the results. What we found perhaps most interesting is during the research, newsroom personnel at every level expressed anxiety about the loss of control over the destination of stories, the power of their brand and the relationship with the reader.

PR Insight of the WeekThe best social media campaigns of 2016 (so far)With half of 2016 already over and with summer now in full swing, we thought it made sense to take a look back at the social media campaigns that so far this year have made headlines. You may be wondering why PR people should pay attention to social media campaigns? The answer is simple: it’s our job to understand the pulse of the industries we work in. What makes an audience tick and what gets them excited. By understanding this, we are better able to counsel our clients, create the right messages, and land top media opportunities. Rarely do things happen in a box anymore so the more we know, the better. Take a look.